The Miami Beach City Commission will move forward on negotiations with two development teams vying to construct Class A office projects on city-owned parking lots near Lincoln Road.
One of the teams, which includes Miami Beach-based Starwood Capital Group and Miami-based Integra Investments, was picked as the preferred group to construct a commercial building with 109,517 square feet of office space, 23,437 square feet of retail, and a 427-space parking garage on a pair of city-owned parking lots with 192 spaces. Those lots include Lot 25 at 17th Street and Lenox Avenue, and Lot 26 near the Colony Theater at 1040 Lincoln Road. The project would take about 1.6 years and $147 million to complete.
Lincoln Road Holdings — consisting of the Coral Gables-based Peebles Corp., Scott Robins Cos., and formerMiami Beach Mayor Philip Levine — was chosen as the other preferred team to build a mixed-use project at a 151-space parking garage at 1664 Meridian Ave. That project would include 77,944 square feet of office, 9,452 square feet of retail, 43 residential units and a 288-space parking lot. It would take about two years and $117 million to complete.
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Within a year, city officials will discuss negotiating with TPC Development, led by Peebles Corp. CEO R. Donahue Peebles, on another possible office project that would replace the 1,460-space 17th Street garage. That project would include 186,297 square feet of office, 54,624 square feet of retail, 1,798 spaces, and 74 residential units. The proposed project would take 2.5 years and $311.75 million to complete. Peebles was the only bidder for the 17th Street garage.
The project concepts came in response to a request for proposals from Miami Beach officials seeking developers for the three city-owned parking lots and the 17th Street parking garage. Three teams made official bids to the RFP, including New York-based Infinity Collective headed by David Berg, which drew up a plan for a 65,000-square-foot office and retail building on Lot 25. Infinity Collective’s plan was not a preferred pick for City Manager Alina Hudak.
After evaluating five scenarios — including a separate proposal from the Starwood team for 1664 Meridian Ave., and Peebles’ plan for Lot 25 and Lot 26 — Hudak opted against redeveloping the 17th Street garage.
But Peebles told cityofficials that the 17th Street garage, located just across the street from city hall and originally built in the 1950s, is in “dismal” shape and will need to be replaced.
“It’s structurally defective. It’s going to have significant problems [and we know this] because we studied this ourselves,” Peebles said.
Peebles wants to add an urban park on top of the new structure, and utilize the residential units as workforce housing. Peebles also claimed he could attract movie and music production companies into the project, and possibly persuade a TV channel to open a studio there.
Hudak said such a project could present challenges for work crews building the future Grand Hyatt Miami Beach convention center hotel. A deal that would replace the garage would also need to be backed by 60% of voters in Miami Beach. The other deals only need the support of 50% of Miami Beach voters.
Peebles said he was willing to work with Hyatt developers David Martin and Jackie Soffer in regards to parking. A project to replace the 17th Street garage also won’t start until 2025, he added.
Miami Beach officials see the development of Class A office buildings as a way to encourage more financial services and tech companies to relocate to the city and diversify its economy beyond tourism and nightlife.
Elected officials on the Beach have been under pressure to slash alcohol serving hours by residents tired of revelers on weekends and holidays. At that same meeting that the RFPs were discussed, Miami Beach officials narrowly backed a measure to shut down alcohol service at 2 a.m. south of 16th Street, between March 7-21, during spring break. More than 100 alcohol-serving establishments in South Beach have licenses to serve until 5 a.m.
Erik Bojnansky, South Florida Business Journal
